Rowe recently sat down with Reason’s Nick Gillespie to discuss his bad experience with a high school guidance counselor (3:20), why he provides scholarships based on work ethic (6:57), the problem with taxpayer-supported college loans (8:40), why America demonizes dirty jobs (11:32), the happiest day of his life (13:14), why following your passion is terrible advice (17:05), why it’s so hard to hire good people (21:04), the hidden cost of regulatory compliance (23:16), the problem with Obama’s promise to create shovel ready jobs (33:05), efficiency versus effectiveness (34:17), and life after Dirty Jobs (38:24).

Don’t miss also Mike doing a QVC almost-ad for gourds. Rowe worked at QVC years ago,

After two days away from political blogging, I’m still not in political news mode, so there.

Being the only female in the house I’m outvoted when it comes to TV selections, so I’ve watched a lot of Discovery Channel stuff over time.

I love the Discovery Channel guys.

My first pick is my fantasy cab ride, The Cash Cab. The Cash Cab’s the only game show I can stand. There’s this guy named Ben who drives a New York city taxi and he asks you trivia questions. If you get the questions right he gives you money. If you don’t, you still get a free cab ride: A win-win situation.

I’ve been taking cabs in NYC for over 25 years and one can only dream of finding a1. nice American cab driver2. who speaks English3. knows where he’s going4. and doesn’t drive like he’s in the throes of demonic posession.Making $500 after answering a few questions would only be the icing on the cake. The Cash Cab is on at 5PM while I plan and make dinner, at the same time as Larry Kudlow’s program on CNBC, which comes to think of it, has also made me a little money.

The Dirty Jobs marathon was playing on Christmas Eve while I was cooking. Mike, the show’s host, has achieved fame and fortune by finding the grossest, messiest jobs around and building a TV program about them. All the jobs require a great deal of physical extertion. Most of the jobs are done by men, with a few exceptions, such as the lady that shucks oysters and the Army maintenance engineer. Some of the jobs – such as silkscreening – require great skill and training, and others are simply disgusting, but Mike’s there, showing us that there is great pride in doing a job well, and that these jobs are indispensable to the functioning of our society:

But you’ll walk away from Dirty Jobs with more than just a glimpse into unfamiliar occupational duties – serving slop to pigs, collecting sperm from stallions and removing bones from fish, for example. If you’re like us, you’ll also gain a new understanding and appreciation for all the often-unpleasant functions someone is shouldering to make your everyday life easier, safer – and often cleaner.

Mike’s nice-looking and seems like a real nice guy but I hope he gets good and clean before he heads home after he’s done. You don’t want him bringing that stuff into your house.

I wasn’t sure whether to include Man vs. Wild on this post, because I think the premise is crazy. So I (F) discussed with my son (S), and the conversation went like this,

F: It’s crazy.S: It’s not!F: I’ve watched the program and the guy’s crazy.S: He’s not crazy. He’s cool.F: OK, I’ll look up the program on the website. What’s the guy’s name?S: Bear.F: The guy’s named Bear?S: That’s his real name. Bear Grylls.F: That explains a number of things.S: Like what?F: Like why he has a job that requires him to be dewormed after he’s done in the jungle.S (Patiently explaining to the obviously clueless mother): It’s called surviving, Mom. The idea is to go to the jungle and survive.F: My idea would be to go to Club Med in Cancun and have a great time.S: He’s not going to do that – he was Special Ops in the British Army, and did a program on the French Foreign Legion. And he can fish with his bare hands.F: That, too?S: Oh yeah, he’s cool.F; You’re right. I’ll include him in the post.

But my favorites are Adam and Jamie of Mythbusters, which yesterday had a marathon while I was cooking. (Do I see a pattern here?) Adam and Jamie do actual science experiments while having a great deal of fun (they do get to blow up a lot of stuff), and their crew are definitely cool. However, The Husband, who worked as a scientist in a lab, complains about their lack of safety measures, especially when it comes to flammable materials.

I’m sure I’m not the only Mythbusters fan out there since last Friday I nearly started an altercation at the Barnes and Noble at Marketfair. I was looking for this book and for a last-minute gift when I saw a lady go by carrying a copy of MythBusters: Don’t Try This at Home. I was standing at the Information desk while the clerk looked up some information for me, and I asked her where the book was. She said she’d go and get it for me while I picked up the Che book.

She was back before I got back to the Information desk, and waiving the book in the air said, “Mythbusters book!” Four people raised their hands trying to grab at the book while the clerk fought them off.

She managed to tell them where the book was, and as I headed to the register with the copy she’d found me, I saw two people getting in a tug of war over the one copy left at the display.

As I’m writing this post American Chopper‘s Christmas special’s playing. I haven’t watched American Chopper yet. No time like the present – they’re making Santa a motorcycle.